#7 - JRL 7273
Alexei II says state, church closer than ever
SAROV, July 31 (Prime-Tass) -- Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexei II called Thursday’s religious celebrations in the closed city of Sarov in the Nizhny Novgorod Region “a testimony of the unification of the state and the church, the unity forcibly interrupted by the tragic events of the twentieth century.”
Alexei II was speaking at a prayer mass on the city’s central square, attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, in honor of the centenary of the sanctification of Serafim Sarovsky, one of the most worshipped Russian Orthodox saints.
“One hundred years ago the great holy man Serafim was sanctified in this land and then, together with many people Emperor Nikolai II was praying here. One hundred years after, Sarov once again welcomes the head of the Russian state - President Vladimir Putin,” Alexei II said.
In between these two remarkable events, Sarov, which the Soviet authorities turned into a closed center of defense science, became the birthplace of the Russian hydrogen bomb.
In the post-Soviet era, the city's main church, dedicated to St. Serafim and turned into a theater by the Soviets, was handed back to churchgoers. The authorities of the still-closed city, however, only allowed in 200 pilgrims to pray together with Putin.
Alexei II said “we live in a secular state but this does not put the church aside from people’s lives, from looking for solutions to problems that concern the whole nation.”
In turn, Putin was brief and politically correct.
“Today’s celebrations were made possible owing to the revival in Russia of religious, spiritual freedom,” he said
He proceeded to say “in Russia we highly praise the contribution of all denominations to the strengthening of Russian statehood, to establishing concordance between the peoples of our secular Russia, to the maintenance of the moral principles of our life.”
Top • Next
Aug. 1, 2003:
#7272 • #7273 • JRL Home
- Back to the Top -